Greetings fellow members….as you may have noticed I am a bit late in getting this out to you for last month and I apologize. Quite the busy month selling a house and trying to squeeze in a bit of fishing!
With that being said, I would like to reach back to September and get caught up with some announcements and recaps. To start the month I wanted to join those that were able to join us for the Marlin seminar in thanking Mike “The Beak” Hurt for taking the time to pass along some of his knowledge at the Marlin seminar. Aside from some great info being passed along the food and venue were a hit. Additional thanks goes out to my fellow board members (Billy Vitale and Ken Yasuda) for their time and effort in making it happen.
Later in the month, the MBMC hosted it’s annual Marlin Tournament. With several days of hot local Marlin fishing having taken place, enthusiasm was high for a decent show. However, in the days leading up to the tournament fishing overall slowed and the 11 boats that joined us for the tournament had to settle for a nice weekend on the water. I believe there was one hookup just before stop fishing but unfortunately the fish was lost. As such, honorable mention goes out to Bill Wilkinson’s “Profishent” for their valiant last minute effort. The awards banquet ended up being the star of the show with great food and a huge lineup of raffle prizes for those that were able to attend. Not to mention the raffling off of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winnings!!!
Special congrats goes out to our big winners:
1st Place – Ryan Kohler
2nd Place – Donna Hargraves
3rd Place – Jose Sanchez
More than anything, I would really like to thank those members that made generous donations to the event. Many of the raffles and prize money would not have been possible without all your incredible contributions. In addition, I would like to convey a sincere thank you to some of our other local vendors that were kind enough to give the club a price break which allowed for even more raffle prizes!!!
$1,000.00 – 1st place prize from EW Trucking (Linda and Jeff Winters).
$700.00 – 2nd place prize from Dana Landing (Steve Pinard and John White).
$500.00 – 3rd place prize from Yasuda Landscape (Ken Yasuda).
Early Bird Prize Marlin bait caster rod from Fisherman’s Landing (Doug Kern).
Platinum Sponsors ($1000+)
– EW Trucking (Linda and Jeff Winters)
– John Brudvik (MBMC Member)
– Dana Landing (Steve Pinard and John White)
Gold Sponsors ($300-$699)
– Bob and Donna Hargraves (MBMC Members)
– Yasuda Landscape (Ken Yasuda)
– Fisherman’s Landing (Doug Kern)
– Jerry Lively (MBMC Member)
– JV Construction (Jeff Meeker)
– Scales Gear Fishing Apparel (Keith McDonald)
– Ryan Kohler (MBMC Member)
Silver Sponsors ($100-$299)
– Dan Muslin and Ann Thompson (MBMC Members)
– John Overland (MBMC Member)
– Paul and Gloria Himmelberger (MBMC Members)
– Scott Paul (MBMC Member)
– Fishworks Offshore Clothing
….also a special thank you to Gerry Charest and Marina Village Conference Center for helping us out with the before and after tournament venues, along with Bekker’s Catering and Barworks for the delicious food and tasty libations. As a club we need to do our best to support all of our sponsors, donors, and vendors as best we can throughout the year. And let’s not forget your hard working board members and volunteers that allowed for the whole tournament to come together seamlessly.
Thank you all so much!
Also like to congratulate Billy Vitale for taking home the FOM title for Sept with a 4.6 lb Vermillion rockfish. Way to pull it out Billy!
As we wind down into the fall and winter months, I wanted to pass along word that the big bluefin are still being caught in decent numbers on the outer banks for those willing to make the run. Also it sounds like the swordfish have moved into our local banks for those willing to put the time in deep dropping. And let’s not overlook the local cod fishing along with the occasional inshore Yellowtail.
Wishing you all tight lines and smooth seas,
Shane Hurt, President
